Common Sense and Simple Arithmetic
by WadeH
Summary: What would have happened if Elizabeth understood Mr. Darcy better before the proposal and was in fact fully expecting it. She was an intelligent woman, and without an excessive amount of prejudice, she could have worked it out. Let us see what happens when she FULLY understands the gentleman, in all his particulars, BEFORE the proposal.
1. Betrothal

_A/N: Welcome back to my loyal readers and a hearty welcome to new ones!_

_Happy New Decade, gang!__ If I managed to time it right, this will be the very first JAFF of the decade. I am of course still working on __Rules of Etiquette__, but I like to do this for fun. I know I promised to finish up ROE around New Years, but the key word there is __around__. I have about 5 chapters to go and will probably finish this weekend._

_This is another of my humorous short stories, 4 chapters and about 8k words. It takes place a day after the Hunsford Proposal, about midmorning, presuming a minor change in Elizabeth's answer to the proposal, based on a better understanding of what Darcy was about._

_Wade_

* * *

The early spring day was warm and inviting as the newly engaged couple walked arm in arm along the pleasant paths of Rosings. Their accord was quite new, as the lady had just accepted his proposal the previous afternoon, and they were enjoying their first stroll as a couple. They had decided to conceal the arrangement from the rest of the party for a day or two to insure some peace and privacy to discuss how things were to be done. The gentleman was scheduled to leave the following morning to speak with the lady's father, so this might be their last good chance to speak privately before they let the cat out of the bag.

As they approached a bench near the middle of the path that had comprised much of the more formal parts of their courtship, Fitzwilliam Darcy decided that he should begin his chapter of his life properly and honorably, so he screwed up his courage and began.

"Elizabeth, my father taught me to begin as I mean to go on. I believe I would like there to be complete honesty and candor between us, regardless of how difficult it might be."

His lady replied with a brilliant smile, saying, "Of course, Fitzwilliam. I quite agree, although I must correct you on one particular."

"Which is?"

"This is not a beginning, but a _continuation_. We have always been honest with each other."

Darcy seemed a bit confused by that, because he knew full well that he had fought against her attraction for months and had not even been honest about his knowledge of her sister's presence in Town. He had not been honest with himself, let alone Elizabeth. However, he thought it might be best to get the first big confession out first, and circle back to that one.

He looked at her carefully and said, "In that vein, I must confess something. I have, at times, kept a mistress."

He waited in trepidation for the repercussion.

His betrothed looked at him, quite surprisingly smiled, and replied, "Very well. Will I ever meet her?"

He stared at his lady in shock, and asked, "I meant I had one in the past, not the present?"

Elizabeth screwed her face up a bit, and asked, "Oh, I see. Will you be having one in the future?"

His eyes big as saucers, he nearly shouted, **"NO**… I mean to say that… I mean… well… I mean that I had one once, but never will again. I am not a man to disregard his wedding vows."

Elizabeth smiled and said, "Oh! Well, that is nice. 'Tis unexpected, but I like the idea very much."

Completely astounded, he asked, "_I am __confused__, Elizabeth._ Did you somehow believe that I might keep a mistress, and _still_ accepted my proposal? Please explain."

"Come now, Fitzwilliam. It is quite common among your circle, and just something that comes with the territory when marrying up."

_"And this," cried Darcy, as he _dropped her hand from his arm and faced his betrothed_, "is your opinion of me! This is the estimation in which you hold me!"_

Elizabeth looked at him in honest confusion, and said, "I do not understand your consternation, Fitzwilliam. _I have every reason in the world to think _well_ of you. No motive __could__ excuse the unjust and ungenerous part _I would be playing should I _accept_ your generous proposal, and _then __fail_ to happily accede to all the obvious conditions attached. I really do not understand your trepidation."

Darcy took off his hat, ran his fingers through his hair several times, heaved a great sigh, and spying a small bench, asked, "May we sit, Elizabeth?"

"Of course."

Shaking his head, he asked, "So, we seem to have some misunderstanding of a significant nature. You believe that I aim to keep a mistress, and you are willing to accept that?"

"Yes, of course. I knew what I was getting in to when I accepted your proposal. I am not missish."

Still confused, he asked, "Exactly how did you come to that conclusion?"

"You told me, of course!"

Looking more agitated, he thundered, "I TOLD YOU?"

Moderating his voice, he added, "Please, tell me this. When did I tell you this, exactly?"

"Why in your proposal of course, which I must admit was very well done. I liked it exceedingly! It was nearly poetry, and by that, I mean the kind that _is__ the food of love_ as you once asserted_._"

Darcy set his hat on the bench, put his head in both hands, and asked, "So you believe that I explicitly told you that I would keep a mistress in my proposal?"

"Well, not in so many words, as that would be vulgar, but you gave me credit for some intelligence and pointed it out to me with considerable subtlety and grace. I liked it very much."

"You seem to remember a different proposal than I do. Would you oblige me by explaining _what_ you heard in my proposal that led to this conclusion?"

"Of course. But really, Fitzwilliam… you obviously spent some considerable time preparing it. I would assume you knew what you were saying as well as I do."

"Please indulge me."

"Well, all right. First you said, '_In vain I have struggled. It will not do.'_ That was an indication of your esteem, telling me that you had been struggling with your search for a wife for some time and with considerable effort. I assume the _ton_ is populated with women like Miss Bingley, and wife‑hunting must be difficult, annoying and dangerous. You were showing me your regard, by telling me you had worked for some time to ultimately select me as your choice of a wife. It showed your esteem for me, and I very much approve, and am happy to have been chosen."

Darcy just shook his head, and asked, "You took that as a compliment?"

"Of course!"

Shaking his head, he simply said, "Please continue."

"Well, next you said, '_My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.'_ Well, that part was a bit pro-forma. All proposals should include such language, and I knew that I was really more of a rational choice than one driven by irrational feelings, although I do believe you care for me. I appreciated you following the usual forms though, and I appreciated you making the effort. It was quite well worded. Every woman likes to hear such words from time to time."

Darcy just shook his head even more, slumped his shoulders, and said, "Pray, continue."

Elizabeth smiled in reflection, and said, "Well, then we got to the meat of the proposal, so to speak. You had to thread a needle in your speech. It would not do to be coarse or use words that an un‑betrothed maiden should not even know, let alone hear, so you spent some time making certain I understood that I would be leaving behind my past upbringing, and would be expected to live by the rules of the first circles. I appreciated that you did not waste time on the obvious, like the fact that I would have an enormous amount of pin money, jewels, carriages and the like. You much more sensibly concentrated on the fact that I would need to lose some of my old connections and emphasized the fact that I would need to live by the rules of my new position."

"And you assumed that includes a mistress?"

"Of course! Really, Fitzwilliam, I do not understand this distress I see on your face. As I said before, I am not missish. Perhaps, some day you will love me enough to forego the pleasure, and I would welcome that time with all my heart, but I will not hold you to it. I come into this with my eyes wide open."

Barely refraining from pounding his fist with his head, he just nodded at her to continue.

"Well, the rest was all just the usual forms. These things must be done properly after all. You declared your affections, let me know the immense relief you felt on _finally_ being finished with the disagreeable task of hunting for a wife, and asked for my hand. I quite liked the phrase _'end my suffering and consent to be my wife'._ It was somewhat unnecessary at that point as your intentions had been clear since the moment you stepped foot in the parsonage without a chaperone, but I appreciated you being explicit all the same, and that part was particularly poetic."

"You thought my 'suffering' was related to something other than my time with you?"

"Of course! We have always understood each other, right from the beginning."

Sighing in exasperation, out of desperation he asked, "May we walk?"

"Of course!"

The couple got up, and Mr. Darcy restored his hat to his head, although his hair would never be the same again, or at least what was left of it would not be.

After a few minutes of walking, Elizabeth asked, "_What is bothering you, Fitzwilliam?_ I expected this to be a day of joy and felicity, and yet you are maudlin. I must confess to a bit of nervousness, as the past five minutes are the very first time in our entire acquaintance that I have not understood every single action you took. I confess to feeling a bit confused, and I do not particularly care for it."

Drawing a deep breath, Darcy asked, "Do you truly believe you have understood every single action I have ever taken."

Elizabeth laughed, and said, "Of course, I do! Anyone of sense and education would. I even understand many of your actions _before_ you came to Hertfordshire, although I did not put it all together until recently. I do not consider this a sign of any particular genius. It is nothing more than _common sense and simple arithmetic._"


	2. Common Sense

As they walked away from the bench, Darcy thought furiously, but mostly around in circles. Something did not add up, and he thought things might end up in dire straits if he continued as it was.

Finally, he asked, "So, you truly believe that our courtship is a practical matter – as you say, _common sense and simple arithmetic_. Might you explain, in some detail if you please."

Elizabeth smiled, and replied, "I shall be happy to. I wish to get back the happier man of my recent memory. Where shall I start?"

Darcy shook his head, and said, "Perhaps at the beginning?"

Elizabeth said, "Yes, or perhaps _before_ the beginning. It will help if you understand what part of your business I have already worked out, so you do not have to bother explaining it."

"Please enlighten me."

"Let us start with _common sense_. Can we both agree that your family has held Pemberley for centuries, and it would like to hold it for centuries yet to come?"

"Yes, obviously."

"As I said… common sense. Now, you are seven and twenty, so it is high time for you to take a wife. I assume you came to that realization some months before you came to Hertfordshire. You are too diligent in your duties to have done otherwise."

Darcy shook his head in wonder, and chagrin. She had a perfectly good point, but there was an unfortunate divergence between what he _should have been doing_ and what he _had been doing. _She was ascribing a lot of virtue to him that he did not possess.

Elizabeth saw he was following, so continued.

"I have seen how you do your estate work. You sort the incoming mail into piles, then merge those into other piles, and continually reprioritize. You keep a running list of things that must be done. I have to assume you would approach marriage the same way, since it is yet another duty of an estate master. I have not actually _seen _the list obviously, but you do have one. I assume the months before you joined Mr. Bingley were spent meeting ladies and checking their attributes against your list."

"You assign much more diligence than I possess, Elizabeth."

"No matter! Even if you did not have a written list, any man of sense and education would know what is required. Perhaps you did it all in your head, but you _were_ doing it. I am certain of it."

"You say this happened before you met me?"

"Yes, of course. I admit I had to surmise that based on what I learned later, but the minute you stepped into the Assembly Hall in Meryton, I recognized you as a man on a mission. Everything about you from the way you dressed, to the way you presented yourself, to the way you handled introductions, to the way you avoided dancing, spoke of a man with a job to do, who was not to be trifled with distractions."

"Explain that, if you please."

"Well, let us contrast you with Mr. Bingley. He is obviously just a young man sowing his wild oats. It is unfortunate that he broke my sister's heart, as she actually loved him, without having the clarity of mind about men that I possess. He could dance and flirt with impunity. You, on the other hand, could not engage in the diversion, as it would detract from your purpose."

"What do you suppose I was doing then during that first assembly?"

"What any_ man in want of a wife_ would do. You were avoiding entanglements. You had your list, and based on your actions in that first assembly, I can even surmise the most important attribute on the list."

Darcy was beginning to wonder if he had fallen down and bashed his head on a rock, but then thought he may as well hear the rest.

"So, tell me something about this list."

"Well, there is the obvious. You need someone that you find tolerable enough to spend decades with, while avoiding any temptation to cut their throat or ship her off to the colonies. You needed someone handsome enough, educated enough, accomplished enough, with good enough social skills, and a good conversationists to make up for your own lack in that area. But those were all secondary, of course."

Darcy stopped his lady momentarily so he could remove a branch from the path. Elizabeth enjoyed the attention, even though it was a trifling obstacle at best.

"So, what, pray tell, was the most important item on this list?"

_"Fecundity!"_

Darcy had been moving along well enough, but that word stopped him dead in his tracks, where he remained until his lady tugged to get him moving again.

"_Fecundity_, you say. Might you elucidate?"

"Of course. That is where we get to the 'common sense' part of the discussion. I assume you can agree, as any sensible person would, that marriage has much in common with breeding thoroughbreds or dogs. You must marry the attributes you want your descendants to have, no?"

Once again, Darcy stumbled to a stop, but instead of starting him again, Elizabeth walked around to face him, and asked, "Fitzwilliam… did I say anything to distress you?"

Darcy shook his head, and said, "You consider marriage and horse breeding equivalent?"

"Obviously not entirely, but they do have certain things in common."

Darcy wanted to scream and deny it, but his good sense intervened, telling him differently.

"Well, I did not think of it in those terms, but I suppose you are correct. Lady Catherine goes on at length about 'breeding' all day and half the night, and since we use the same terms and the same techniques for marrying royalty that we use for breeding dogs, I imagine I must admit that point."

Elizabeth smiled, and said, "I see you agree. Perhaps you did not have a written list, but you did understand the problem."

Darcy was perplexed, and asked, "Problem?"

Elizabeth, for the first time looked a bit unsure, and said, "Yes, but I hope you are not offended if I am just a touch _indelicate?_"

Darcy said, "Be as indelicate as you like. I prefer clarity over delicacy any day."

Elizabeth said quite carefully, "Well, you see… your family has an obvious problem, and I assumed you recognized it and set out to correct it. You have only one sister, so no spare. Your mother, according to Lady Catherine had at least five miscarriages, followed by a birth that killed her. Lady Catherine herself has only one daughter, and forgive me for saying this, but her chances of a large number of progeny, if any, seem limited at best. Your father had only one brother and no sisters. Lady Matlock has two sons and one daughter, but according to Lady Catherine, the elder son is a bit simple, and the Colonel is quite likely to secede him. The current Earl has no brother, and the Earldom was at some risk until he begat the current viscount. To be honest, the Fitzwilliams and the Darcys have for several generations been only a rabbit hole away from extinction. They are joining quite a lot of the _ton_ in breeding themselves out of existence."

Darcy stared at his betrothed, but he could not decide if it was in wonder or consternation.

Finally, unable to think of anything rational to say, he croaked, "How did you learn all of that?"

Elizabeth smiled, and said, "Why, from Lady Catherine of course. She likes to talk a great deal, so if you can simply direct her discourse in the direction you need with a few questions, she will willingly tell you anything you might want to know."

Darcy just stared.

Elizabeth continued, "I must admit that I like Lady Catherine quite a lot. It is comforting to know that when we must inevitably curtail the connection with my mother, that I will have someone that could pass as her sister for company."

Darcy gasped, not quite certain, or even vaguely certain, what to do with that, and finally said, "Go on."

"Well, with that foreknowledge, I assume you spent some time in society looking for a wife. You obviously did not find the perfect candidate, so you decided to look in the country for… how can I put this delicately… well, for _stronger stock_."

He just nodded his head. Unfortunately, what was in fact stupefaction, the lady took as agreement.

"After that, is where _our_ tale began. Unlike Mr. Bingley, you were on a mission and not to be distracted. You warded off all introductions and invitations to dance, as you could hardly pass up a chance to observe all the local ladies at one time. The next assembly was not for another month, and you did not have forever to dedicate to the task. You put yourself where you could not be put upon too much and observed the local ladies, both dancing and still. You walked around the edge of the ballroom to overhear conversations, I assume looking for signs of intelligence or cleverness, while avoiding entanglements that would slow your assessment down."

Darcy asked, "Did you see it that way at the time, or is this your retroactive interpretation?"

"Oh, I understood you instantly. I could see it when we were introduced by the way you examined my family. They say that if you want to see your future you should look at your wife's mother. Mine is admittedly quite silly, but nothing you would not be accustomed to, and no worse than she was at twenty. She is still handsome after bearing five children in eight years. It is unfortunate we are all girls, but you are wise enough to know that is just the luck of the draw. You could see my younger sisters are very silly, but strong, healthy and pretty. You have a younger sister, so I assumed you were accustomed to a bit of silliness. I could see you sizing up Jane, myself and Mary, but it was not to your purpose to be sucked in so easily. You needed to observe, so you set about doing it with your usual efficiency."

Darcy's looked about in shock, as she continued.

"You see, Fitzwilliam, my first impressions are _never wrong_. I saw what you were about, and just sat back to enjoy the show. I knew of course the chances of you _actually choosing _someone from Meryton were vanishingly small, but I thought I might enjoy watching you unleash the dogs."

Darcy just shook his head with even greater levels of bewilderment.

"Ah… Um… Did anything else of note happen that night?"

"Well, I am afraid you had not explained your purpose to Mr. Bingley adequately. That was probably your only mistake of the evening. He took it upon himself to try to _instruct_ you, publicly I might add. I wanted to strangle him, but I thought you managed to tell him what was what without insulting anybody or having to put up with his badgering the rest of the night. The entire evening's hunt would have been wasted if you had been coerced into dancing."

Gasping in shock, he asked, "YOU HEARD ME? I confess, I remember it quite differently. I believe I called you '_not handsome enough to tempt me'_ and said I would not '_give consequence to young ladies slighted by other men'_ or some rubbish like that. I always hoped you had not heard, since you would quite rightly take such a slight out of my hide."

Looking perplexed, Elizabeth said, "What slight was that? You were a man on a mission. Cleopatra would not have tempted you. I was not slighted a bit. In fact, by then I had worked out what you were doing, and understood your strategy perfectly, so I told a few gossips what you said to try to assist you. I was doing my part to put the matchmakers off your scent, and much to my credit, it worked. Even my mother did not try to pair you up with anyone. I consider that one of my crowning achievements."

"So, you told people what I said, but were not offended?"

"Of course not! I understood what you were about. Naturally, I pretended to be embarrassed as that was the easiest way to keep my mother's claws out of your backside, but I was just happy to be part of your scheme. Naturally, it was diverting, which as you know is something in short supply in the country. I also guessed that you were at least considering me, or you would have danced with me to give you a new angle to observe the other ladies. No, I was not offended in the least. It was a compliment for anyone with sense enough to understand the context."

Darcy just shook his head and wondered if he would need to purchase a compass to plot his course to Bedlam.


	3. Simple Arithmetic

Offering his arm again, Darcy suggested they start moving, as he thought about all that he had heard.

"So just to be clear, Elizabeth, at the end of the first assembly, you believed that I was in want of a wife, and at least considering you?"

"Yes, at that point I imagine you had a short list. Certainly Jane and I; perhaps Mary; maybe Charlotte Lucas or Alicia Golding. I fear that is about all you were likely to get from that assembly, though."

"Then what?"

Elizabeth thought, for a few moments before replying.

"We next met at Lucas Lodge, I believe. There, you continued your evaluation by listening to conversations, while trying to avoid Miss Bingley and matchmakers. You can thank me later for the latter. I could almost see the moment when you discarded poor Alicia Golding, and I believe Mary's exertions at the pianoforte probably were the death knell to her chances. Charlotte Lucas does not play at all, which you might have found out somewhere else. A half‑dozen of the ladies are too young, too silly or both for marriage. You also listened to enough of my conversations to know I am not entirely bereft of good sense. You paid particular attention to _my_ playing and singing, and I believe you concluded that it was adequate, or at least good enough that a few months with a master could bring me up to scratch."

Darcy chuckled, and said, "To be honest, Elizabeth, I have heard many women who are more technically proficient. My sister and Miss Bingley come to mind, but I have never heard anyone who gave me more pleasure. Bring a master into the house and I will sick the dogs on him."

Elizabeth laughed a bubbling laugh and punched him playfully on the arm.

They walked along slowly and quietly for a few minutes, before he asked.

"Elizabeth, you said 'common sense and simple arithmetic'. What is the arithmetic?"

"Well, Fitzwilliam, it seems obvious. You need exactly one wife, and according to your aunt, you need a _legitimate_ heir to pass on Pemberley. I cannot imagine you wanting to do otherwise anyway, but for you it is a simple requirement. You have somewhere between several hundred and several thousand women who appear marginally qualified for the position that would happily accept it. You cannot interview or court all of them… such crude behavior would have you chained to the third or fourth one you encountered. Is this not so?"

"Yes, that seems correct."

"Well then. You had to be slightly subtle about it. You had to use lists and process of elimination to winnow the field down without raising expectations or being placed in any potentially compromising positions. Between your obvious need for an heir and a spare, you need someone you can live with, without going mad."

"You make it all sound so mechanical."

"Do not try to fool me, Fitzwilliam. I make it all sound so sensible. Mathematically, the simplest thing to do is eliminate everyone who has at least one unacceptable quality, since you really have no need to compromise. Basically, it only takes one bite of poison to kill you, regardless of how good the rest of the dinner is."

"I can agree with that."

"Well, you obviously do, since I am only parroting your own reasoning back to you. Look at it this way. You entered a completely unknown town with four and twenty families, and within a fortnight had narrowed the possibilities for who _might_ be considered down to far less than a half‑dozen ladies. As I said, simple arithmetic, easily done if you are clever about it."

They crossed over a small brook that had a stone bridge and continued on the path.

Shall we return our discussion to our meeting at Lucas Lodge, my dear?"

"Of course, where were we? Oh, yes. I cannot be certain, but you had at least winnowed down the field by then, and you decided to do a test of manners and – how shall I put it – _mercenary attitudes_. You somehow contrived to get Sir William to attempt to force us to dance. Using Sir William was good, although I must admit it could not possibly have been that much of a challenge to point him in the right direction."

"Perhaps."

"No false modesty, Fitzwilliam. I imagine your goal was just to see if I would jump at the opportunity to dance with Mr. 10,000 a year, run like a frightened rabbit, or something in between. You could not lose, because the worst‑case scenario is you would dance with me. Best case, you would see how I reacted to unexpected situations."

"And you refused… quite politely, as it turned out… but refused nonetheless."

"Yes, I had not thought you might be so quick with Sir William, so you caught me off guard. You gave the appearance of being forced to the dance, and I demurred to show you I was not mercenary. We both understood the implicit contract in the exchange but could obviously not discuss it."

Darcy started chuckling, but not really for the reason Elizabeth thought he was. She naturally thought he was enjoying how much of his scheme she had worked out, while he was chuckling at just how bad his situation was.

"And then?"

"Well, I believe Jane eliminated herself soon after that. She was disqualified both for having the poor sense to ride to a dinner engagement on horseback in the rain, and for her lack of resilience, since she got a cold after a trifling three‑mile ride. I imagine you did not want to bother fishing in Mr. Bingley's pond anyway, so by the time I arrived the next day, I knew at least Jane had been eliminated, and probably Mary as well."

"You are correct, in a way. Neither lady was under consideration at the time."

"Well, the next thing you obviously did is arrange for me to stay at Netherfield. It must have seemed too good an opportunity to pass up, and the Bingleys are easy enough to lead. I imagine you thought that two or three days of close observation would be worth several months of social engagements. It is simple arithmetic after all."

"A good strategy, it would seem."

Elizabeth reached down to pick a yellow flower they passed by. She liked the look of it and did not recognize the species so wanted to take it back to the parsonage so she could examine her botany book.

"Well, I imagine the next four days were productive for you. You wanted to test my social graces, so you let Miss Bingley take a run at me every day. While I admit you are very clever, you cannot count that a great challenge. All you really had to do is compliment me in some way. You could say something about my fine eyes, or my pianoforte playing or manners… any complement would do, really. Then you just sat back to see if I survived it. I am assuming the _ton_ has a hundred Miss Bingleys that I will have to deal with."

"You handled Miss Bingley with the greatest of ease. The ton will pose no difficulties for you."

"Thank you, Fitzwilliam. Next, I believe you tested me on my education by debating every chance you got. You debated my mother just to see if you thought her silliness might be congenital. You talked briefly to my sisters to see if they were _entirely _silly, or just young. Perhaps you wrote to your sister for advice."

Darcy chuckled again, but his betrothed did not hear the grimness in the gesture.

"I do not know if you had worked out by then whether I was on to your game or not, but you did leave me a few clues as to your character. Mr. Bingley already admitted to being flighty and inconstant, while you asserted in your own way that you were steady as a rock. Miss Bingley enumerated a list of the generally accepted accomplishments, and you amended it in a way to left me no doubt that particular lady would not qualify, and I was more to your liking regarding education. And of course, when Miss Bingley was wandering about, you showed me your subtle sense of humor by implying that Miss Bingley and I might possibly have secret affairs, and in giving a compliment of overwriting your initial comment at the assembly and saying that my figure was in fact good enough to be admired. And of course, a little bit of teasing banter to show more of your sense of humor. I enjoy the entire exchange tremendously."

"You did not find them to be 'arguments', as Bingley called them."

"Oh, no! They were perfect. Then, that last day in the library was I believe a chance to show both of us capable of sitting and reading in silence, without a lot of chatter. I would imagine much of our lives will be spent that way."

"It would seem they were busy days."

"Yes, they were. By then, I am sure you had worked out that we both understood the interaction we were willingly participating in. I assume you squeezed my hand a bit longer when you handed me into the carriage as acknowledgement that I was still under consideration."

"Well, perhaps."

Elizabeth laughed, "I know you do not like being such an open book, Fitzwilliam, but there it is. After that, we went home, which I believe gave you some time to reflect, perhaps make some notes, and reexamine your qualifications to be sure you had not missed anything."

"I was quite busy, it would seem. Then?"

"Well, the rest of the stay in Hertfordshire is really quite anticlimactic. There was that rogue, Mr. Wickham. I have not worked out if you planted him or he was just a lucky break for you, but you left me to his mercies just to see if I could handle him, since Mrs. Darcy will meet cads like him every day of the week."

Darcy gasped, and said, "But…"

Elizabeth smiled, and said, "I shall return to that subject. Let us move on to the Netherfield Ball."

"As I said before, Elizabeth, _I would by no means suspend any pleasure of yours._"

Elizabeth giggled, and replied.

"Yes, you did, and I can honestly say that you never have! At any rate, by the time the ball started, I am sure you had narrowed the list of potential Hertfordshire candidates down to just me, and possibly one other woman. Your last task was to finally test our compatibility by dancing, which we did on the fourth set. I was curious about Mr. Wickham as I had a bad feeling about him, so I asked you. I could tell by how upset you got by the entire line of questioning that he had done something truly vile to you, but you were either too honorable to deal with him, or more likely, he had some leverage over you. I naturally resolved to take care of the scoundrel myself. It was the least I could do."

"**YOU WHAT!**"

"Calm down, Fitzwilliam. I did not do anything rash or dangerous. I simply went around to all the merchants and made a list of his debts. Then I made copies of the list, went _back_ to the same merchants and gave each a copy of the entire list. After that, I gave a copy to Colonel Forster, and tacked a few on the wall of the barracks. After that, the problem mostly sorted itself out. I believe he is presently in Upper Canada trying to stay ahead of the next bullet aimed at him."

Darcy just shook his head, as she continued.

"After that, I imagine you knew all you had to know. You added my name to your short list of acceptable candidates and left the county to do more simple arithmetic. I imagine you repeated the process in a few other places by attending house parties and the like."

"This is fascinating that you worked all this out."

"Why thank you. Where were we? Oh, yes. Once you had more or less decided I was your best candidate, you wanted to give me one last look. You obviously contrived to get Mr. Collins to ask Mrs. Collins to have me visit on Easter. That would give you an innocent sounding way to spend more time with me, while also seeing if I could handle disagreeable peers, insensible parsons and flirty cousins. I guess you were satisfied, so you started walking with me to see if we could exist in a peaceful park without filling the air with noise and chatter."

"You told me it was a favorite walk."

"Really, Fitzwilliam, if I wanted your company, I could not ask for it without breaking propriety, but neither could I expect you to hunt through the entire park for me every day."

"No, of course not."

"I must admit that I was a bit vexed by your cousin yesterday. Not because of Jane and Mr. Bingley, mind you, but because your cousin was using the example to recommend you. It meant that your cousin is not as clever as I would hope for. After Mr. Bingley, I was hoping you had a more sensible friend, but was vastly disappointed. At the very least, a man should know enough to keep his friend's business private, or make sure he is not boasting about a broken heart to the lady's sister. It is a wonder he is still alive if he goes into battle with that sort of thinking."

Darcy gasped, and answered somewhat perplexedly.

"He told you I separated your sister from Bingley, and you are not searching for a spike for my head?"

"No, of course not. Jane dug her own hole by trying to be _too_ demure. At any rate, she will be connected to the Darcys soon. Once I get her to quit whining about Mr. Bingley, if I do not strangle her first, she can look for a fully‑grown man this time."

"Yes… er… I see your point."

"Then of course, you made that wonderful proposal, and here we are. Is it not delightful in every possible way? I am _especially_ happy that you will not have a mistress. It is an unexpected boon, and I appreciate it very much. We shall do quite well together, Fitzwilliam. I believe one day we might even be embarrassingly in love."


	4. Navigation

Darcy noticed that they had circled around the path back to the bench where the entire debacle began, and decided it was time to finally come clean.

"Elizabeth, could we sit. I have some things to tell you."

"Of course, Fitzwilliam."

Darcy wiped down the seat with his handkerchief and helped her sit before sitting beside her. He took off his hat and laid it alongside himself on the bench and gathered his thoughts. Elizabeth envied his freedom, so she looked around to see if anyone was looking, and then took off her own bonnet so she could see her betrothed better.

"Elizabeth, you mentioned arithmetic in a way that leads me to believe you have more than a passing acquaintance with the sciences?"

"Yes. I find it fascinating, and my father indulged my study in any subject my interest took. I am so happy that I do not have to hide my intelligence or education from you."

Darcy stared down at his hands for a moment, and finally asked, "Are you familiar with the art of navigation? That is a task that requires both mathematics and a keen sense of direction."

"Yes, I am a bit astonished that you picked that particular topic. I have studied it in some depth."

"I would like to think of our relationship as something akin to a journey requiring careful navigation. You start with an initial heading, and then check certain waypoints along the way to ensure you are going on the route you planned. Does that make sense?"

"Of course."

"You just described our entire acquaintance, as a series of interactions, all of which you interpreted to mean we were on a particular course."

"Yes, that is a good way to describe it. I had not thought of it in those terms, but it is a nice analogy."

Almost afraid to ask, Darcy sucked up his courage and began.

"May I ask, _what was the source for your initial heading?_ The intelligence that told you what each waypoint along the way _meant?_"

Wondering at the strain in her betrothed's voice, Elizabeth answered cautiously.

"Well, it is not so complicated really. My first impressions are _never wrong_. Never! Not once, in all my experience, have I had an incorrect first impression. That set the course for the rest of the 'journey' as you say."

Almost afraid to ask, he continued.

"Pray tell, what was your first impression of me?"

"It is simple, and nothing has occurred to change it. I saw a man who was honorable, honest, kind, generous, diligent, meticulous and careful."

Gasping, Darcy said, "You assumed all of that from a first impression?"

"Yes! It was all clear as day to me! It still is!"

There was a pause for both members of the somewhat frightened couple to gather their thoughts, and finally, Elizabeth said, "Please, Fitzwilliam. What is the nature of these questions? Does your furrowed brow indicate some type of…?"

Blowing out a distressed breath, Darcy asked, "If you are navigating from London to America, and found yourself on the shores of France, what would you conclude?"

"Well, obviously that my initial heading had been wildly off."

"If you were unaware of the mistake in direction, might you eventually end up in Berlin, and imagine it to be Philadelphia?"

Elizabeth scrunched up her face, and said, "You would really have to misinterpret an awful lot of touch points along the way, but I imagine it might be like Columbus. He went entirely the wrong direction and ended up in the wrong place because it was somewhere entirely new to us."

Darcy chuckled, not sure exactly how misplaced that analogy was.

"Elizabeth, let me ask you to do a mental navigation exercise. Before you begin, allow me to give you a few touch points that are fixed and never moving."

The lady, getting more nervous by the moment, said, "All… right…"

"The first is that of everything I have ever said to you, there is one sentence I wish you to use as fixed as the North Star, as constant as the tides, as reliable as gravity."

"Yes"

"I once said,_ 'You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.'_ Please use that as your fixed reference, because we are about to have a difficult journey, and that star is the only thing that has a chance to guide us to our home._"_

Elizabeth looked even more confused than before, but Darcy continued.

"Now, let us try a different starting heading. Suppose that, instead of that man you described, you saw an arrogant man stuffed full of his own self‑importance? Suppose that, on your first impression, _my manners, impressed you with the fullest belief of my arrogance, my conceit, and my selfish disdain of the feelings of others_? Instead of a man on an honorable and honest mission, you observed a man who was bad tempered, and wishing he was anywhere else in the world than an assembly full of people he thought to be decidedly below him."

The clearing suddenly became so quiet both members of the party could hear a tiny brook bubbling some distance off, and a small bird tweeting somewhere on the other side of Rosings. Both sat rock still, side by side but feeling as if a three-foot-wide brick wall had been built between them.

Elizabeth found herself almost unable to breathe and felt like the hand of a giant squeezing her chest. It took several minutes for her to be able to speak, but when she spoke, the happy and confident woman of the previous hour was gone, to be replaced by a timid and confused girl.

"So, _'not handsome enough to tempt you'?_"

"The literal truth at the time."

"_not lending consequence?_"

"Something I never did if I could help it."

"You did not admire me?"

"That night, Miss Bingley commented on the 'reputed beauties' as she called them, and in possibly the stupidest and most shameful moment of my life, I replied, _'She a beauty!–I should as soon call her mother a wit.'_"

Even quieter, in a breathless whisper, Elizabeth continued.

"Sir William, at Lucas Lodge?"

"All his doing."

"You watched me play?"

"I thought at the time that _your performance was pleasing, though by no means capital. _It was only later that I came to believe it the sweetest song I had ever heard."

"Miss Bingley's unpleasantness at Netherfield?"

"Pure laziness on both mine and Bingley's parts. I had mentioned I admired your eyes at Lucas Lodge, so she wanted to scratch them out. I simply chose to ignore her, as she is Bingley's problem, and anything I say to her just makes her worse."

"The request for a jig?"

"That was real. By then, I had begun to have a bit of a fascination for you, but I was absolutely certain it would go nowhere."

"The debates?"

"Those were real. I AM a man who loves an educated and clever woman, and that was the first time I got to see what that looks like. You were the only _person_, male or female that I knew within ten miles who could best me in a debate."

Elizabeth was by now breathing very shallowly, and almost inaudible.

"The half‑hour in the library?"

"Proving to myself that I could ignore you and refusing to allow any hint of expectations to form."

"The squeeze when handing me up to the carriage at the end?"

"A reflex. I had not planned to even hand you in."

Elizabeth sat for some time, running that month through her mind. Finally, with some trepidation, she continued her interrogation.

"Dancing at the Netherfield Ball?"

Staring at his clenched hands, Darcy said, "I had realized I admired you, but much to my shame, I thought your situation in life was too far below mine. All the fool me, I thought I would be elevating you too far… not realizing that it is _you_ who would be elevating _me_. I fear it took me a long time to realize that I would be the one gaining all the advantage."

"How long, Fitzwilliam?"

As a small tear escaped from the corner of his eye, he said, "Until this morning."

"So, your proposal? You were not cautioning me on what my life was to become?"

"No, I was foolishly trying to show you what so‑called 'obstacles' I had to overcome to accept you."

"So, you really DID think me below you?"

Darcy could only nod his head, incapable of speech.

"But – you do love me… though, I am not certain you can love someone who you think is not your equal."

Darcy looked at her, and said, "I DO hope it is possible, because I now believe you are my _superior_. I hope you will be able to love me, though I am below you in all the ways that matter."

"How do you account for that? To go from such implacable opposition to acceptance to love. How did it happen?"

_"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."_

Elizabeth sat in stunned silence for a moment, then jumped up and started walking over to the edge of the green.

Darcy started to follow here, but she shouted, "**NO! STAY THERE!**"

Wondering if he was looking at the last view he would ever have of Elizabeth, he was somewhat heartened when she stopped at the edge of the green and started pacing back and forth. He could see her left fist was clenched tight enough that the veins were probably standing out on the arms he would likely never see. With her right hand, her index finger was pointed, and she was for all the world pointing at things on a map only she could see as she stomped back and forth. He reckoned if this went on for another ten minutes, he would have to fetch a gardener with a spade to dig her out.

Feeling more and more dejected, he watched her as carefully as he had ever watched anyone in his life. She was clearly getting angrier and angrier, and it seemed likely that a break of their betrothal was imminent.

Just as he was tempted to get up and go to her, or call her name, Elizabeth stopped mid stride, and stood stock still for at least a minute. She was facing him, but her eyes were closed while she continued pointing to her own map of their lives. Darcy desperately hoped she was seeing some obscure route to redemption, because he could not imagine any such thing. What woman, having once assessed a man's character so incorrectly, would be willing to walk back, start over from the beginning and see if there was anything there worth saving.

The change was so fast, he would not have seen it if he had not been watching her as if his very life depended on it. All of a sudden, her fist uncurled, her other hand came to her side, her eyes opened, and she stared at him with an intensity that he thought might leave a burned‑out stump in his place.

The very next moment she started stomping toward him looking like a Viking army closing for battle. The love of his life walked briskly toward him, so he stood up to meet her. When she arrived a moment later, he was surprised to find the palm of her hand on his chest. She gave him a push back to the bench, opened her mouth and shouted.

**"NO!"**

Unsure whether a response was required, he met her eyes which looked like they were on fire. She stared at him with an intensity he had never witnessed, and repeated.

**"NO!"**

Not knowing if she expected any words, and having no idea what they would be anyway, he simply lifted one eyebrow in question.

**"NO! THIS WILL NOT DO!"**

He still had no idea what to do, so started to speak, but she put her finger on his lips to silence him. Her face was still only a foot from his, and her eyes were still on fire, burning with anger or love. It was hard to tell.

"Fitzwilliam, you are mistaken!"

That was unexpected, so he timidly asked, "How so?"

"You implied that my first impressions might be in error. My first impressions are NEVER in error."

Wondering what to say, he simply raised his eyebrow again, and she continued.

"_I saw a man who was honorable, honest, kind, generous, diligent, meticulous and careful._ I am never wrong, Fitzwilliam. **That man is who you are!**"

Completely baffled, he said, "Yes, it is the man I hope to one da…"

She cut him off by placing her entire hand over his mouth and shouted.

"**NOT SOMEDAY! TODAY! Right Here! Right Now! That is the man you ARE!**"

She stared at him, almost daring a contradiction, and then did something completely surprising. She pulled up the front of her dress to her knees and straddled his lap with one knee on each side. Her arms laid on his shoulders, and her hands curved behind his neck. She leaned forward until her head touched his forehead and whispered.

_"My first impression was NOT wrong, Fitzwilliam. The man I described is YOU! The man I love is YOU! There can be no two opinions on the subject. Perhaps, you may have temporarily lost your way a few months ago, but that is not important. In essence, you are as you have always been, which is the man I described. You need not CHANGE! You simply need to BE the man I know you are. You CAN be that man, because you ARE that man! Will you let go of your mistaken idea of your own character, and BE the man that I love? If not for yourself, do it for me! Do it for our children!"_

Darcy matched the intense look in her eyes but was unable to speak.

_"It is time to CHOOSE, Fitzwilliam. If you are the man that I described… the man that I love with all my heart, kiss me now. If not… well, there is no NOT. There is no choice. BE what I know you to b…"_

Nobody could know what more she might have said if her betrothed had not silenced her by kissing her within an inch of her life.

~~~ Finis ~~~


End file.
